Carp hurler Maeda tosses no-hitter

First NPB pitcher to accomplish the feat since Dragons' Yamamoto in 2006

YOKOHAMA – Hiroshima right-hander Kenta Maeda threw a no-hitter as the Carp beat the Yokohama BayStars 2-0 Friday to extend their winning streak to four games.

Maeda (1-1) became the 74th pitcher in Japanese baseball history to throw a no-hitter, the first since Chunichi Dragons left-hander Masahiro Yamamoto did so on Sept. 16, 2006 against the Hanshin Tigers.

The 2010 Sawamura Award winner faced only two batters over the minimum, walking one in the sixth inning and another in the ninth at Yokohama Stadium.

“I got very nervous on the mound in the ninth inning,” Maeda said. “I feel great. I never expected to throw a no-hitter. I think I was able to do it because the game was so close. I had good velocity on my fastball and located my pitches well.”

He got 15 groundouts and struck out six in a 122-pitch outing.

Yoshihiro Maru delivered an RBI single in the first inning off Giancarlo Alvarado (0-1). Nick Stavinoha hit his first home run in Japan with a solo shot in the ninth.

Yokohama was shut out for the third straight game, having gone scoreless in 29 consecutive innings.

Dragons 1, Swallows 0

At Nagoya Dome, Kazuki Yoshimi and two relievers combined on a four-hit shutout as Chunichi edged Tokyo Yakult to remain unbeaten after six games.

Yoshimi (2-0) scattered three hits and walked none in seven innings before Takuya Asao and Hitoki Iwase took care of the rest. Kazuhiro Wada hit an RBI single in the first inning off Orlando Roman (0-1).

Tigers 3, Giants 0

At Koshien Stadium, Atsushi Nomi pitched his first complete-game shutout since June 11, 2011, as Hanshin handed Yomiuri its sixth loss in seven games.

Nomi (1-0) allowed just two hits while striking out 10 and walking two. Hirokazu Sawamura (0-2) gave up two runs in seven innings of work.

Pena doubled to left-center off Enrique Gonzalez (0-2) after back-to-back RBI singles from Nobihiro Matsuda and Yuya Hasegawa tied the game at 2-2 with one out in the top of the ninth. Tadashi Settsu (2-0) allowed two runs in eight innings.

Saito (2-0) allowed two runs and six hits before leaving with a 4-2 lead. Yoshio Itoi and Atsunori Inaba drove in two runs apiece for Nippon Ham. Yoshihisa Naruse (1-1) took the loss.

Buffaloes 2, Eagles 2 (11)

At Osaka’s Kyocera Dome, Takahiro Okada and Aarom Baldiris hit consecutive two-out RBI singles off Masahiro Tanaka to tie the game in the ninth inning as Orix played out an 11-inning tie with Tohoku Rakuten.

Tanaka retired the first two batters in the ninth before giving up four consecutive base hits. Chihiro Kaneko threw seven innings of one-run ball in his season debut.